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If a story alleges mistreatment of female White House staffers, but no one will corroborate it, does the story simply wither on the vine?

That seems to be the question facing coverage of Ron Suskind’s new tell-all on the Obama adminstration, Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington and the Education of A President. Not scheduled to be released until this week, the Washington Post snagged a copy last Friday and wasted no time in dishing the dirt on the contents, with both the WaPo and Politico zeroing in on allegations that the White House is a hostile environment for women.

The book apparently features quotes from both Anita Dunn, a former communications director and Christina Romer, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. Suskind quotes Dunn as saying the White House “actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace for women.” For her part, Romer is quoted as saying that she felt “like a piece of meat” after being excluded from a meeting by Larry Summers, one of the administration’s top economic advisers.

But where there’s alleged smoke, there’s plenty of cold water to put it out. Reached for comment by the Washington Post, both Romer and Dunn are claiming to have been misquoted, with Dunn telling both the WaPo and Politico that she told Suskind exactly the opposite – working in the White House was a challenging environment, but wasn't hostile.

And, without further revelations from inside, it seems that the story is destined to end at a we said/he heard stalemate. Politico tried to keep the embers glowing by reaching out to a number of women’s organizations to see if any of them would bite on the quotes or offer up their own criticism of the Obama administration's internal gender relations, but no one was willing to take the bait.